Minnesota inaugurated a new program to use tax revenue from newly-legalized marijuana to invest in communities that felt the “direct harm” from prohibition.
Citing the “lasting effects … the war on drugs has had on communities of color,” marijuana legalization bill sponsor Democratic state Sen. Lindsey Port said the tax scheme will be “a form of reparation.”
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Minnesota legalized marijuana in May, but the law took effect on August 1, mandating a 10% tax on all marijuana sales. The “CanRenew” grant program will award $15 million per year to organizations in communities that have “experienced a disproportionately large amount of cannabis enforcement,” the Star Tribune reported.
“It’ll be wasted,” Republican state Rep. Nolan West, who voted for legalization but dislikes the CanRenew program, said. “It’s just a way to funnel money to [Democrat] districts.”
CanRenew grants will not start being awarded until 2026, and the body running the program, the Office of Cannabis Management, is still being formed.
Port said she believes this is the only program of its kind in the country, adding, “When we look at what is the most effective way the state can invest or disinvest in people, it is by investments we choose to make in communities.”
Money will be sent to nonprofit groups, schools, businesses, local governments, and community organizations. Groups that apply for grants must provide proof the project will “improve community-wide outcomes or experiences,” the law states, such as economic development, health, violence prevention, or legal aid.
Marijuana legalization advocates like Leili Fatehi, who manages the MN is Ready Coalition, are pleased with the program.
“The spirit of it is important,” she told the Tribune, adding she would prefer the money come out of the state’s general fund instead of sales tax revenue. “We know that cannabis prohibition disproportionately impacted not just the individuals that are caught up in the criminal justice system themselves … but the entirety of their communities.”
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Minnesota’s marijuana legalization also includes preferential treatment for those who meet certain “equity criteria” to receive marijuana-related business licenses in another effort targeted at those who found themselves in legal trouble during marijuana prohibition.
Likewise, the state is set to automatically expunge an estimated 66,796 marijuana-related records.
Original Location: Minnesota sends ‘social equity’ marijuana money to communities as ‘form of reparations’
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